Antony secures home front for defence deals

The incorruptible defence minister has ensured that plum defence projects land up in his native state, Kerala.

advertisement

M G Radhakrishnan

April 13, 2012

ISSUE DATE: April 23, 2012

UPDATED: April 22, 2012 19:54 IST

Vendors and Armymen at a stall at the Def Expo in Delhi in March.

In order to protect his squeaky clean image, A.K. Antony has always tried to steer clear of allegations of favouritism. But since becoming Union defence minister in 2006, Antony has been liberal in directing investment back home, even though for much of his tenure, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) was in power. In the past five years, Antony has granted as many as six Ministry of Defence projects to Kerala with a combined capital outlay of more than Rs 1,000 crore. In spite of their bitter political differences, Elamaram Kareem, industries minister in the previous ldf government, and Antony worked out a cordial relationship to set up new projects. The alliance came to be dubbed as the EK-AK formula.

1 BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of BrahMos Aersospace Ltd, New Delhi, an Indo-Russian project under the Ministry of Defence. It commenced operations in 2008 by taking over the facilities of a state psu with an investment of Rs 150 crore. The firm has 450 employees and manufactures components for BrahMos missiles.

2 Strategic Electronics Manufacturing Facility in Kasargode district It is the electronics arm of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore. It was started with an investment of Rs 200 crore. The firm manufactures radars, navigation systems, mission computers and early warning systems for Light Combat Aircraft, advanced light helicopters and Sukhois. It is yet to be inaugurated.

4 BEL Product Support Centre, Kochi A unit under Bharat Electronics Ltd to support outsourcing products for navy and air force and to provide waterfront support to Southern Naval Command. It was inaugurated by Antony in February 2011.

5 Indian Coast Guard Academy, Kannur Kannur was chosen for the academy overlooking Pune's claims. It was inaugurated in 2009 and the foundation stone laid in May 2011. The academy is coming up on 164 acres of land provided by the previous ldf government near the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala. With an estimated cost of Rs 720 crore, it is expected to provide training to 400 Coast Guard personnel at a time.

6 National Institute for Research and Development in Defence Shipbuilding (NIRDESH) at Kozhikode It is under the department of defence production in the Ministry of Defence. The foundation stone was laid by Antony in January 2011. nirdesh is the first of its kind in the country and is wholly funded by the defence ministry and all defence shipyards in the country.